From Prototype to Early Access: ‘Raft’ Kicks Off Grand Oceanic Adventures (With Friends)

Traversing the ocean can be quite a hazardous experience – even more so when all you have is a raft and… nothing else. Although obviously that’s just the beginning, and if your goal is to survive more than a couple of days, you’ll want to make the most of what else may be floating out there in the great big blue. Oh, and it’s dangerous to go alone on this here Raft, so bring friends!

Now, while it does all start with but a meager raft, your chances of survival slim to none, things are going to change quickly. At least, depending on what you decide to do with the game’s crafting feature, it will; an example of which can be seen in the above screenshot. So grab that debris and turn it into… well, whatever you’ve managed to research while fending off sharks and other oceanic dangers. Do that and you just might live long enough to turn those barely-held-together planks of wood into a genuine home.

That said, like your raft, the game itself is very much a work-in-progress, currently in Early Access. Not for a lack of features or content though, as there’s “a boat-load of items to craft, crops to grow, underwater secrets to explore, a solid building system and much more” right now, with plenty more to come. Steam Workshop integration is among planned additions, as is ‘Creative Mode’, which is going to let players explore without a care in the world as far as resource management and survival goes. You know, for those times when you want a more relaxing, laid-back experience, free of sharks. Because sharks are the worst. Suck it sharks. This is my raft and there’s no room on it for your kind!

Raft [Early Access] is available on Steam, carrying a $19.99 price tag.